HOPE MILLS - As the town prepares for a procedure to possibly remove Commissioner Tonzie Collins from office, a lawyer with New Hanover County warns that it is not a simple process.

Hope Mills commissioners can expect a long road if they go through with the amotion process as expected, said Wanda Copley, the New Hanover County attorney.

In May, that county's Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to remove one of their colleagues from office. It was apparently the first time amotion had been used to unseat an elected official in North Carolina in nearly a century.

"It took thousands of hours of preparation," Copley said. "You've got to make sure you have due process. You have to have all the information about the facts, and then you have to come up with procedures about how you're going to run the hearing."

On July 15, the Hope Mills board voted 4-1 to ask the town's lawyer to provide information about how an amotion hearing would be run. Town employees have filed a series of complaints about Collins, who was first elected in 2005. He has denied wrongdoing and was the sole vote against pursuing amotion.

The town's lawyer, T.C. Morphis Jr., is scheduled to present the information Aug. 5. He called amotion a quasi-judicial procedure similar to a trial. The case against Collins is based on alleged misconduct, not any criminal offense, he said.

Sept. 12 is the tentative date for a hearing that could remove Collins from office.

In an amotion hearing, Morphis said, lawyers will present the town's case. Collins will have the opportunity to refute the allegations and present evidence.

"It won't be a trial by ambush. We'll give Mr. Collins plenty of time to present his own case," Morphis said. "This is not a kangaroo court. It's not a predetermined thing."

Mayor Jackie Warner and town commissioners say Collins' behavior, which includes allegations of harassment and intimidation, has created an uncomfortable environment at Town Hall. Warner and the board say investigating the complaints has cost the town time and money, and they believe it could lead to costly lawsuits.

In June, the board voted to ban Collins from nonpublic parts of Town Hall and from interacting with employees without approval of the town manager. Collins sued over the ban but dropped his complaint after the commissioners' work station was moved to a public part of Town Hall and he was allowed to interact with workers after business hours.

At the Aug. 5 meeting, Morphis said he will present the board with rules and procedures for the Sept. 12 hearing. He also will present a "petition in amotion" that spells out the case against Collins.

New Hanover case

As Morphis prepares the town's case, he is looking to New Hanover County's recent experience. When the county commissioners went through the process, they cited alleged erratic behavior by Commissioner Brian Berger and threats he allegedly made against county employees. Berger is appealing the decision.

"Our issue was the safety and security of our county employees," said Copley, the county attorney.

Copley said the May amotion hearing took about four hours. She likened it to "a corporate board removing one of its own."

The county had looked into requesting state legislation to allow the board to remove Berger. When that failed, the county settled on amotion.

"It was something that we found in researching," Copley said. "It was an old law, but it had been used."

Frayda Bluestein, a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Government, said amotion is a part of state common law, so there is no statutory provision for it.

"It's somewhat unclear whether it is something that local governments have the authority to do," she said.

"It's a right, really, or a process that has been recognized by courts over time, which recognizes the ability of a corporate board to be able to remove one of its members for significant failure to be able to continue to be able to perform the duties of office," Bluestein said. "It's a fairly high standard."

Bluestein said the outcome of Berger's appeal may settle some questions about whether government boards can use amotion to remove an elected official.

A Superior Court judge has given both sides in the Berger appeal until Aug. 19 to file new briefs. The StarNews of Wilmington reported that the judge wants to see evidence from the commissioners about whether they could serve as fair and impartial decision makers and whether the board had an adequate factual basis to remove Berger.

Woody White, chairman of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, declined to comment.

Morphis said it is unclear whether Collins would have a vote in the amotion hearing. Legal articles that refer to amotion as a part of North Carolina common law do not address whether the accused has a vote in the proceedings.

If Collins is removed, his absence could be brief. He is one of six candidates running for five seats on the board in November.

Morphis said he believes the board does not have the authority to prevent Collins from running again.

"He could conceivably be removed and re-elected in the election this fall," Morphis said.

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Mitchell, who made the motion to pursue Collins' removal, said the effort would be worth it even if Collins is re-elected. If nothing else, he said, the hearing will demonstrate to town employees that the board is taking their complaints about Collins seriously. Mitchell is not seeking re-election.

"I think the consensus of the board is that we want to bring an end to this matter and resolve it for better or worse so we can move on with the town's business," said Mitchell.

Staff writer Rodger Mullen can be reached at mullenr@fayobserver.com or 486-3561.

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